As Passenger‘s ‘Let Her Go‘ sails past the one million mark, total sales of number one singles in the UK during the course of 2013 have reached their highest level since 1998, reports the Official Charts Company.
‘Let Her Go’ has become the fourth UK single of the year to shift more than one million copies, joining Daft Punk‘s ‘Get Lucky‘, Robin Thicke‘s ‘Blurred Lines‘ and Avicii‘s ‘Wake Me Up‘.
“It feels wonderful but completely ridiculous if I’m honest,” the one-man leader of Passenger, Mike Rosenberg, enthuses. “For the last five years I’ve been busking and playing tiny gigs in pubs, so for one of my songs to suddenly get so popular is not only a dream come true, but also a huge surprise.”
“Congratulations to Passenger and his label Nettwerk on scoring only the third independent million selling single this Millennium,” Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company, adds. “Let Her Go is not only one of the singles of the year, it is one of the classics of the digital era – as this achievement underlines.”
The rise of the digital market during the past few years has provided a massive shot in the arm to the (non-physical) single, and in turn has coincided with a renewed interest in the Now! compilation albums.
By contrast, traditional LP sales continue to decline, though persistent and passionate campaigns such as Record Store Day have helped independent labels to account for 26.4% of all sales in Britain this year.
